Randi Davenport is an adjunct assistant professor in UNC’s Department of English and Comparative Literature. Davenport moved to Chapel Hill to find services and treatment for her son diagnosed with True Childhood Schizophrenia, but has received little help due to the complicated nature of the disorder. Davenport is now working with state officials to draft policy changes that will help people with mental illnesses.

Ned Sharpless is a UNC associate professor of medicine and genetics. Sharpless devised a blood test to measure the p16 protein, a tumor suppressor that builds up in cells as people age. The p16 test could keep cells from becoming cancerous, as well as predict how patients would handle surgery or how well wounds would heal.

J. Victor Garcia-Martinez and his lab at UNC transplanted human cells into mice to study diseases particular to humans. Their human-mouse model is the first of its kind and has enabled new possibilities for AIDS research. The Garcia-Martinez lab used the model to find that the Truvada drug can prevent HIV transmission.

UNC student Tripp Gobble and local musician Al Mask co-founded Vinyl Records to help students produce their own music. Six bands are selected from auditions to perform in a free concert on campus. After the show, students vote for their favorite bands and the top three win a record deal.

UNC researchers Hannah Gill and Mai Nguyen analyzed crime data from five North Carolina counties to investigate the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 287(g) program. Their analysis revealed high program costs, undocumented residents, and inaccurate arrests. Gill and Nguyen discuss the complexity of Hispanic immigrants in Alamance County and sociopolitical implications.

Klaus Hahn and his UNC pharmacology lab discoveredthe genetic code to make a protein that responds to light. The protein stimulates cell movement, which is a technique with the potential to repair nerve injuries, create new muscle and bone, or understand how an embryo develops.

James Faber is a professor in the Department of Cell and Molecular Physiology. His lab is studying how risk for vascular disease depends on the number of collateral blood vessels a person has. So far, Faber’s lab has identified two genes that trigger collateral formation.

Brett Whalen, a UNC assistant professor of history, researches medieval theology and the apocalypse. In his book, Dominion of God, Whalen traces the cycle of apocalyptic thinking throughout the Middle Ages and its influence on the papacy.

The second annual scientific art competition was held by the Chapel Hill Analytical and Nanofabrication Laboratory. Students and faculty submitted photographs taken with electron microscopes, x-rays, and other powerful imaging tools.